Uproar: An Unsubtle but Charming Kiwi Coming-Of-Age Tale

By Liam Lacey

Rating: B

An enjoyable if over-ingratiating feel-good comedy, Uproar follows 17-year-old high-school misfit Josh Waaka (Julian Dennison), who finds his place in the world through drama class and political activism during New Zealand’s summer of civil unrest in 1981.

The script directly links Josh’s coming-of-age with a transformative political moment in New Zealand’s history: From July through September of 1981, the country was rocked by dozens of protests against a visit from the South African national rugby team, as the anti-apartheid movement resonated with New Zealand’s Māori population and its allies.

That was the year, we are told by Josh’s opening voiceover, that New Zealand transformed from boring comic book character Bruce Banner to his powerful superhero double, The Incredible Hulk. Josh — an overweight, half-Māori child of a widowed working-class mom in a predominantly white private Catholic boys’ school — could only wish for Bruce Banner’s anonymity.

Bullied by the school’s jocks, he eats his lunch alone in the school library. Instead of extra-curricular activities, he spends after-school hours on a paper route to help his English-born mother Shirley (Minnie Driver), who works three cleaning jobs to support her family.

As the film unfolds, Josh is engaged by a succession of people urging him to get out of his shell and commit to something. They include a sympathetic teacher, Brother Madigan (Kiwi comic Rhys Darby) who invites Josh to join his unofficial drama club.

There’s his only friend Grace (Jada Fa’atui) who leads him to a fiery Māori political activist Samantha (Erana James) and Josh’s older brother James (James Rolleston), who rallies from depression to support his younger brother and puts him on the school rugby team. With a lot of people on his side, Josh finally steps up, leading to new barriers.

Directed by Hamish Bennett and Paul Middleditch, and cowritten with Sonia Whiteman, Uproar is a busy character-stuffed affair, inspired by co-director Middleditch’s personal story. Characters are divided between the sensitive outsiders who surround Josh and the villainous sort.

The latter include the jocks on the racist, homophobic high school rugby squad and the school’s authoritarian principal (Mark Mitchinson) who decides to expel Josh when his photo appears in the newspaper at a protest march.

With no risk of over-subtlety, Uproar mixes gentle quirky comedy with a few digs at clumsy white allies and the myth of the innocent bystander.

Mostly though, it’s a showcase for the sunny, charismatic Dennison, a young actor who has graduated from children’s roles in his native country (Shopping, Hunt for Wilderpeople) to international films including Deadpool 2, Godzilla vs. Kong and the upcoming disaster film, Y2K. You will, no doubt, see more of him.

Uproar. Directed by Paul Middleditch and Hamish Bennett. Written by Hamish Bennett and Sonia Whiteman. Starring Julian Dennison, Minnie Driver, Rhys Darby, Jada Fa’atui and Erana James. In theatres March 15 including Scotiabank Toronto before expanding to additional markets.